What a shock, at this point, that John Tortorella operates from the eyes of storms, that he is a purveyor of hostility and incivility, thus a target for return fire.
If only NBC had known that Thursday night, it would have flipped off the down-low crowd microphone when a ref went down low to tell Tortorella to shaddup, already.
Wild-eyed, as he frequently appears, Tortorella was seen in a sustained barking holler at an unseen ref when the object of his disaffection clearly shouted back, “[Bleep] you! That’s enough! You had your say. You had your say!”
Play-by-player Dave Strader did well
to quickly apologize to the TV audience. On behalf of whom, however, wasn’t clear.
On one hand, TV wants to bring us close, then closer. Field microphones, rink microphones, microphones attached to the hand-held cameras on golf courses, beside tennis courts, in the bullpens, the tunnels between the playing fields and the locker rooms, beneath uniforms.
But where is the due diligence, the preparation as it relates to who is being so closely monitored and when?
Rutgers had no idea that Mike Rice behaved like a sideline lunatic before it hired him? WFAN, CBS Radio and
MSNBC had no clue that Don Imus and Co. could or would say such things on the air? Who knew that stage-stealer Kanye West again would act like a jerk during a music awards show?
And even if it hadn’t been Tortorella, when you see a coach or a player agitated,
hollering, spewing demonstratively angry words, and you have a microphone planted nearby, you switch that microphone to “off,” no?
In fact, rather than having my play-by-play folks regularly apologize to audiences, we should have all those down-low, sounds-of-the-game microphones, as a matter of course and common sense, ready to be turned down — or off — as events dictate. But what do we know about TV?
Not everyone is so eager to roast Weiner
Anthony Weiner has made himself such an easy target, his “Kick Me” sign fastened to his front, that his planned political comeback seems foolish, a waste of time, energy and dough.
Still, there’s a fellow who recalls the time …
Tom O’Meara is a former member of the FDNY hockey team. In January 2002, with the 9/11 attacks still fresh, the Rangers invited two members of the NYPD, FDNY and Port Authority hockey teams to play in the annual Christopher Reeve Paralysis Foundation game in The Garden.
Those officers were invited and billed as representatives of New York’s “Heroes.”
Yet, after participating in the skills competition, these “heroes” were essentially told to get lost. They would not be playing in the game, one that included Brian Leetch, Eric Lindros and Mark Messier, as well as celebrities Tim Robbins, John McEnroe, Sid Rosenberg and Gary Dell’Abate of the “Howard Stern Show.”
Disappointed and hurt, the FDNY, NYPD and PA “heroes” began to remove their uniforms, when then-Congressman Weiner, a goalie in the skills portion — “actually a decent one, too” O’Meara wrote — entered the room and asked why they were undressing.
“When he found out we weren’t playing in the game, he said he’d be right back” O’Meara recalled. “After about 10 minutes, he came back into our room and told us to stay dressed, ‘You’re all playing in the game.’
“I have to admit, that game was one of the biggest highlights of my hockey career. … Needless to say, Weiner came through for us that day, and in a huge way.
“P.S.: The next year, we weren’t invited back.”
* Can’t figure it out. Either Greg Anthony is a non-conforming conformist or a conforming non-conformist. Or he has alternative TV uniforms.
On CBS throughout the NCAA Tournament, he wore a large diamond earring and, as did the rest of the studio panelists, an American flag lapel pin.
Yet, in commercials seen in conjunction with the Tournament, Anthony wore no earring and no lapel pin.
Yet, on NBA TV last week, he wore his diamond earring but no lapel pin.
Why would I notice this, let alone write it? Can’t figure that out, either.
Network graphics miss FTs
When did free-throw stats become so irrelevant they’re excluded from TV’s quarterly, halftime and postgame stat graphics? They matter. And in some of these playoff games, a lot.
Game 1 of Pacers-Heat would not have been nearly as thrilling had the Heat not shot 16-for-25 — 64 percent — from the line. Memphis lost Game 2 in San Antonio by four, missing eight of 26.
Yet, free throws rarely make the cut when TV and radio “experts” “break down” the games — before, after and at halftime.
Meanwhile, the carriers of conspiracy theories as to which teams David Stern “wants” to advance for TV ratings — refs “ordered” to make it happen — have been forced to ignore the last two games of Pacers-Knicks. The Pacers were called for 34 fouls, the Knicks for 64.
* Story of the Week comes from Houston, where a vendor at the Astros’ Minute Maid Park was fired for taking a minute to “make.” Problem was, he took his tray of snow cones into the bathroom stall with him, placing it on the floor. A patron caught it on cell phone video, TV station KPRC aired it on the news.
* It must gall Jimmy Dolan not to be able to charge for overtime hockey and basketball — unless it shows up in the next cable bills. Or maybe an “Exit Facility Fee” will be next.
* Thursday, Angels ninth-inning reliever Ernesto Frieri, having allowed two runs on three hits and a walk, was pulled before he could blow the save. But Bayonne’s Robert Coello came in to get the final out — and the save. Frieri had to settle for a hold.
* Checkout Counter: Artist/collector Neil Scherer’s “Doubleheader” exhibit — art merged with baseball — is loaded with neat stuff, including fabulous photos of the 1927 Yankees. It’s at the Thomas Moser Gallery, 699 Madison Avenue — gratis — through July 30.
* If NBC’s going to display a graphic about the Bruins’ Zdeno Chara — “Became Norris Trophy winner and perennial All-Star after being traded by Islanders’ GM Mike Milbury in 2001” — it’s getting kinda late. Hey, cheap shots are the only kind I can afford.
* Don Mattingly prefers lesser players who play hard to highly paid stars who don’t? All those years with the Yankees and he never even was suspected of being a subversive radical!